Cash register



Feb. 9, 1932. B. M. SHIPLEY CASH REGISTER Filed June 6, 1929 2Sheets-Sheet 1 gnaw whom Berni: M. Shipley Z/LMM Feb. 9, 1932. B. M.SHIPLEY 1,843,990

CASH REGISTER Filed June 6, 1929 2 Sheetssheet 2 40 Wm q Bambi. ShipleyPatented Feb. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFics BERNIS IM. SHIPLEY, OFDAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CORPORATION OFMARYLAND CASH REGISTER Application filed June 6,

This invention relates to cash registers and like machines, and has moreparticular reference to improvements in cash drawer controlled lockingmechanisms for such machines.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a machine of the typedisclosed in applications for Letters Patent of the United States,Serial Nos; 608,281; 687,305 and 182,371; filed December 21, 1922,January 19, 1924, and April 9, 1927, respectively, by B. M. Shipley,relating to improvements on that type of machinefound in UnitedStatesLetters Patent to Shipley, No. 1,619,796, March 1, 1927; No.1,602,596, October 12, 1926; and No. 1,648,999, November 15, 1927.

One object or this invention is to provide a. machine of the typeindicated, with novel means'to lock the machine against anotheroperation until the cash drawer, which was rendered accessible by thepreceding operation, is closed.

Another object is to provide novel means to manually disable the cashdrawer-controlled machine look.

A further object is to provide novel means operated by a n'ianipulativedevice to open the cash erawer when the manipulative device is IOClCQClto one of its positions, and free for operation a cash drawer-controlledmachine lock when the manipulative device is shifted to another of itspositions.

lVith these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists ofcertain novel fea tures of construction and combinations of parts, theessential elements of which are set forth in appended claims and apreferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described withreference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of thisspecification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in left elevation, showing the cash drawer mechanismand the locking device for the machine release mechanism.

Ff is a fragmentary detail View of the mechanism for arresting the partsin their home positions at the end of an operation oi the machine.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view of the 1929. Serial No. 368,750.

manipulative device, and the means by which the manipulative device,when shifted in one direction, releases the cash drawer.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view of the manipulative device and themechanism whereby the manipulative device, when shifted to another ofits positions, trees the drawer-controlled machine lock for operation.

Fig. 5 is a skeletonized view in rear elevation of the machine, showingthe mechanism embodying the present invention.

General description Described in general terms, the machine inconnection with which the present invention is adapted to be used,includes aplurality of groups of keys for entering amounts to beregistered, indicator mechanism to indicate the amounts and the totalsthereof, a plurality of totalizers upon which to accumulate the variousamounts entered into the machine, and printing mechanism adapted toissue a printed receipt of the transaction. A money receptacle, as acash drawer, is normally latched in inaccessible position, and isadapted to be automatically unlatched and rendered accessible uponoperation of the machine. Means is also provided to enable the operatorto manually unlatch the cash drawer when the machine is in a state ofrest, the drawer becoming accessible after being unlatched.

The machine is normally locked against idle operation, and is adapted tobe released for operation by depression of the usual m0- tor or machinerelease bar, whereupon a strong spring operates a release mechanism toenable the machine to be operated. The drawer-releasing mechanism andmachinereleasing mechanisms are old in the abovenamed Shipleyapplications, the present invention relating in part to the provision ofa device under the control of the cash drawer to prevent the action ofthe releasing mechanism when the cash drawer stands in its accessibleposition. The action of moving the cash drawer to its inaccessibleposition operates this device to permit the subsequent r lease of themachine for operation. Thus, the

the path of the block 23.

operator is prevented from entering a transactlon in the machine whilethe cash drawer remains open from the last transact1on entered.

Releasing mechanism for the machine The machine, in combination withwhich the present invention is adapted to be used, is released foroperation by rocking a release shaft 10, journal'ed in frames 43 and 44,and which is the well known release shaft fully disclosed in the abovereferred to Shipley applications and patents. The shaft is normally heldagainst rotation in counterclockwise direction by a manually-controlledobstruction (not shown, but which is the pawl 35 of Shipley, No.1,602,596). \Vhen the obstruction is displaced, a spring, not shown, butwhich is the spring 26 of Shipley, No. 1,602,596) rocks the releaseshaft 10 counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig.- 1,- and lowers a link 11connecting an arm 12, fast on the release shaft 10, and an arm 13 of abell crank 14 journaled on a shaft 15 supported in the machine frames 43and 44. The link 11, as it shifts in the direction of its length. rocksthe bell crank 14 counter-clockwise to displace the remaining arm 16 ofthe bell crank from beneath a stud 17 on one arm of a clutch controldetent 18 journaled on a stud 2O projecting from machine frame 43. Uponthe displacement of the blocking arm 16, a spring 21 rocks the detent 18counter-clockwise to shift a nose 22 on the lever out of the v path of ablock 23 on the driven member 24 of the well known clutch mechanism. henfreed, the clutch member 24 rotates to connect any suitable drivingmeans (not shown) with a drive pinion 25 journaled on a stud 26,projecting from the frame 43, in a manner well known in the art, andwhich is fully illustrated and described in the above-named Shipleyapplications, and in U. S. Letters Patent to Kettering and Chryst, No.1,144,418, June 29, 1915.

The drive pinion 25, through a train of gears, rotates theshaft 15 and adrive shaft 27 journaled in frames 43 and 44, through one completerotation in counter-clockwise direction to operate'the machine. Near theend of each operation of the machine, a stud 2 8 (Fig. 2) on a disk 29,fast on the shaft 15, wipes along a curved edge formed on the adjacentarm of the detent 18 to rock the detent clockwise and reposition thenose 22 in The block, upon contact with the nose 22, is arrested withitsdriven clutch member 24, whereupon the clutch members becomedisconnected when the parts arrive in their home positions. As soon asthe detent 18 restores the stud 17 to its normal position above the arm16, mechanism, not shown, but found in the Shipley applications, and theShipley Patent, No. 1,648,999, operates to rock the shaft 10 and thebell crank 14 clockwise to return the arm 16 to its effective positionbeneath the stud 17, where it remalns until the shaft 10 is againoperated to release the machine for the next operation.

Gash drawer releasing mechanism The cash drawer 30 (Fig. 1) is suitablysupported in a cabinet, only a fragment of which is shown in Fig. 1, andwhen the cash drawer is released during an operation of the machine, aspring 46 compressed be tween the cabinet 45 and the rear wall of thecash drawer, propels it from. the cabinet to a position accessible tothe operator. The operator upon completing the transaction, returns thedrawer to its inaccessible position within the cabinet, manuallycompressing the propelling spring 46 as he does so.

The low beveled end of a retaining plunger 31, slidable verticallythrough a hollow boss 38 on the base 32 of the machine, extends throughan aperture (not shown) in a hasp 33 attached to the rear wall of thecash drawer 30, and serves to normally latch the drawer in itsinaccessible position against the tension of the propelling spring 46. Aspring 34 compressed between the under side of the base 32 and aretaining washer 35, held in place on the plunger by a pin 36, normallyholds the plunger 31 in locking po sition.

Normally the plunger 31 is withdrawn to release the drawer 30 near theend of each operation of the machine, by means, not shown herein, butfully disclosed in Fig. 5 of Shipleys Patent, No. 1,648,999.

In the disclosure of the present invention, only the bell crank 41(Fig. 1) of the machineoperated drawer releasing mechanism is shown,pivoted on a cross rod 42 extending it between the side frames 43, 44 ofthe machine, one arm of the bell crank fitting within a kerf formed inthe upper end of the plunger 31 to which the arm is loosely connected bya pin passing through the kerfed end of the plunger and through a slot51 in the arm of the bell crank.

A spring 47 connected to the remaining arm of the bell crank 41 tends toretain the bell crank in idle position at the limit of itscounter-clockwise travel (Fig. 1) with its arm in contact with anabutment 49 on the base 32.

The bell crank 41, when rocked clockwise, operates to withdraw theplunger 31 against the tension of the spring 34 from the hasp 33, thusfreeing the drawer 30 to the action of its propelling spring 46, whichslides the drawer to its accessible position, the plunger being returnedto its projected position in the path of return of the hasp 33 at theend of the operation of the machine.

The operator, after depositing the cash in the drawer, or making change,returns the drawer to its closed position, and the hasp L one convenientmeans to efiect this 33 upon the return of the drawer to closedposition, contacts the beveled end of the plunger and cams it upwardlyto enable the hasp'to pass beneath it. As the drawer nearly reaches itslimit of inward movement, it brings the aperture inthe hasp, beneath thebeveled end of the plunger 31, whereupon the spring 34 projects theplunger into such aperture to lock the drawer in closed position. Thedownward movement of plunger 31 is limited by a collar 37 fast thereon,resting on the boss 38. r

Manual drawer release mechanism The cash drawer may be released manuallyby the following described means, when it is necessary to gain accessthereto, and it it not desirable to operate the cash register.

A shaft 59 (Figs. 1 and 5) journaled in a lateral ear on the cross frame55 and in the side frame 43 and a printer side frame 61, carries anoperating crank 58 at its outer end. A lifter arm 62 is fast on theinner end of the shaft 59 and extends beneath a projection or stud 63 onthe upper end of a depending link 52, the lowerend of which is pivotedto one arm of the drawer-releasing bell crank 41.

A studfl53 projecting from a bracket 54 fast on a cross frame 55extending between the machine side frames 43444 extends through a guideslot 56 in the link 52. The operator rocks the crank 58 and shaft 59counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, to rotate the lifter arm 62(Figs. 3 and 5) in the same direction, which raises the link 52 to rockthe bell crank 41 clockwise, thereby withdrawing the plunger 31 torelease the cash drawer to the action of its propelling spring 46, asabove described. When'the operator releases the crank 58, the spring 34lowers the plunger 31, and the spring 47 rocks the bell crank 41counter-clockwise to lower the link 52, whereupon stud 63 rocks thelifter arm 62, shaft 59 and crank 58 clockwise to the positions in whichthe parts appear in Figs. 1 and 3.

The machine releasing mechanism and the cash drawer mechanism describedabove, are old and only form a part-of the present invention whencombined with the novel features now to be set forth.

lilac/Line locking mechanism It is desirable in machines of this type,to which the present invention is adapted to be applied, to compel theoperator to fully close the cash drawer after the entry of onetransaction, before again operating the machine .to enter the nexttransaction, and as result, the following mechanism is provided.

When, during an operation of the machine, the cash drawer 30 is releasedand nnpelled from its inaccessible position to its accessible position,which movement is toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, a three-armedlever 70, journaled on a rod 71 supported in a flange 72 (Fig. 5)extending upwardly from the base 32 and in a boss, not shown, alsoprojecting upwardly from the base of the machine, tends to rockcounter-clockwise under the influence of a spring 73 compressed betweenthe base 32 and a forwardly extending arm 74 of the lever 7 O. Thespring 73 constantly urges the lever to rotate, but it is normallyprevented from doing so by a downwardly extending arm 75 resting againstthe rear wall of the cash drawer 30. A link 76 connects a rearwardlyextending arm 77 of the lever 70 with one arm of a bell crank 79 pivotedon a shaft 80 journaled in the machine side frames 43 and 44. A lockingslide 81 guided on a stud 84 in the side frame 43, is connected at oneend to the bell crank 79, as by a pivot 82,

passing through an opening in the side frame 43, the opposite end of thelocking slide or bolt lying adjacent an abutment 85 on the link 11 ofthe machine release mechanism. The lever 70, on its counter-clockwiserotation, tends to lower the link 76 to rock the bell crank 79 clockwiseto thrust the locking slide 81 towards th right, but movement of thelocking slide 81 towards the-right is blocked. at this time by thewedge-shaped stud or abutment 85 on the link 11, which was lowered intoa position directly in the path of the locking slide 81 when the machinewas released for operation, as described above. machine, andsubsequently to the movement of the cash drawer 30 to its accessibleposition, the release shaft 10 and its arm 12 rock clockwise to raisethe release link 11, and as the stud 85 clears the end of the slide 81,the spring 73 is free to rock the lever 7 0 counterclockwise (the drawer30 being out of contact with the arm 75 of the lever 70) to draw thelinl: 76 downwardly and rock the bell crank 79 to thrust the lockingslide 81 owards the right to position the endthereof beneath the stud85. In this position, the release link 11 cannot again be lowered torelease the machine for operation, and so long as the cash drawer 30remains in its accessible position, the locking bolt 81 remainseffective to'prevent the release of the machine for another operation.

When the cash drawer 30 is returned'to its inaccessible position,however, the rear vall thereof contacts the arm 75 and rocks the lever70 clockwise to its normal position, compressing spring 73 and raisingthe link 76 to rock the bell crank 79 counter-clockwise and withdraw thelocking slide 81 from beneath the abutment 85, as shown in Fig. 1. Thisleaves the machine releasing mechanism free under the control oftheusual manipulative releasing means (not shown), which, when operated,frees'the shaft 10 to the action of Near the end of the operation of theits spring (also not shown). to again release the machine for operation.

Manual control of the cash drawer-controlled machine Z0070 the bellcrank 79 in such a manner that when the parts are in the positions inwhich they appear in Fig. 1, the hook-shaped abling latch 90 preventsmovement of the bell crank 79, thereby restraining the locking slide 81in its ineffective position against the tension of the spring 7 3.

Rocking the crank 58, the shaft 59 and the disabling latch 90 clockwiseto their normal positions (Fig. 4), withdraws the latch 90 from theprojection 91,. whereupon the spring 73 is free to thrust the lockingslide 81 under the stud 85 to lock the machine, as above described.

The normal position of the manipulative crank 58 is determined by therequirements of the particular user, but for the purposes of thisinvention, it will be considered that the normal position of the crank58 is that shown in Fig. 4, wherein the latch 90 is held in idleposition to enable the drawer-controlled machine lockto function at eachoperation of the machine, the plunger litter arm 62 (Fig. 3) beingwithdrawn from the projection 63 on the link 52.

Should the trade conditions require that the work of enteringtransactions and making change or depositing the cash, be speeded up,the user would manually adjust the crank 58 to the right to the positionshown in Fig. 1, wherein the latch 90 restrains the bell crank 79 andlocking slide 81 in their idle positions to enable the machine to beoperated without necessitating the closure of the drawer intermediateeach two successive operations.

If, in either adjustment of the crank 58, it becomes desirable torelease the drawerlockin g plunger 31 to enable the spring 46 to renderthe drawer accessible, without operating the machine, the operator willrock the crank 58 farther to the right from the position shown in Fig.3, to cause the lifter arm 62 to draw the link 52 upwardly and with itthe plunger 31, after which the crank 58 is automatically restored tothe position shown in Fig. 1, by the spring 34, through the link 52,stud 63 and arm 62. When desired the crank 58 may be manually moved tothe position shown in Fig. 4. The crank is held ineither of its twopositions by a friction spring- 95 (Fig. 4) on the shaft 59, between thehub on the crank 58 and a friction plate 96 secured to a block 97 on theframe 61.

The pin 50 and slot 51 permits relative movement of the plunger 31 andthe bell crank 4:1.

Obviously, when the crank 58 is rocked to its extreme counter-clockwiselimit to efi'ect the manual release of the cash drawer 30 withoutoperating the machine, the latch 90 continues to retain the slide 81 ofthe cash drawer-controlled machine lock in idle position.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirablyadapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understoodthat it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form orembodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment inVarious forms all coming with in the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed as new, is

1. In a machine of the class described; the combination with a normallylocked driving means; means to release the driving means for operation;a normally latched cash drawer; manually operated means to unlatch thecash drawer; and means to move the cash drawer to accessible position;of a rocking member; a thrust bar connected to said rocking member; adrawer-actuated lever; a linkage connecting the roeking member and thelever; and means to rock the lever under the control of the cash draweras said cash drawer moves to accessible position, to operate the rockingmember to move the thrust bar into the path of a projection on the meanswhich releases the driving means, to prevent release of the drivingmeans; and means controlled by the manually operated unlatching means torestrain the thrust bar in idle position.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a normallylocked drive therefor; means to release the driving means for operation;a norm ally latched cash drawer; and: means to release the cash drawerfor operation; of a drawer-controlled locking member for the means whichreleases the drive for operation, the drawer adapted, when closed. toretain the locking member inactive and adapted to free the lockingmember for operation, when in accessible position; and means adjustableat will to a certain distance into a position in which it restrains thelooking member against effective operation the means adapted to be movedan additional distance in the same direction into a position in which itunlatches the drawer.

3. In a machine of the class described. the combination with a normallylocked drive therefor; means to release the driving means for operation;a normally latched cash drawer; and means to release the cash drawer foroperation; of a drawer-controlled locking member for the means whichreleases the drive for operation, the drawer adapted, when closed, toretain the locking member inactive and adapted to free the lockingmember for operation, when inaccessible position; a detent to hold thelocking member in idle position; and a single manipulative deviceadjustable at will in a certain direction from normal'position into aposition, in which it sets the detent to ineffective position, themanipulative member adapted to be moved an additional distance in thesame direction to unlatch the cash drawer.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a normallylocked drive therefor; means to release the driving means for operation;a normally latched cash drawer; and means to release the cash drawer foroperation; of a drawer-controlled locking member for the means whichreleases the drive for operation, the drawer adapted, when closed, toretain the locking member inactive and adapted to free the lockingmember for operation, when in accessible position; a detent to hold thelocking member in idle position; and a single means manually settable toa plurality of positions in one of which it adjusts the detent to idleposition, the settable means adapted to move the detent out of idleposition into effective position, the sett-able means also adapted whenmoved an additional distance in the same direction to unlatch the cashdrawer.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BERNIS M. SHIPLEY.

